Lid support

ABSTRACT

A lid supporting device for engagement with the upper portion of a container wall comprising a single piece of heavy gauge wire formed to have a wall-spanning back portion, a first leg, a second leg, and a sleeve of resilient non-abrasive material surrounding a major portion of the back portion. The first leg comprises a generally linear length of wire and a smoothly curved tail of wire at its lower end.

nited States Patent 91 Archibald 4s L110 SUPPORT 1,967,427 7/1934Puckett ..248/302 x [76] Inventor: Robert S. Archibald, Gilson Road,

Wellesley Hills, Mass Q2181 Primary Examiner-George T. HallAttorney-Gordon R. Williamson [22] Filed: Apr. 12, 1971' [21] App]. No.;133,183 [57] ABSTRACT A lid supporting device for engagement with theupper [52] US. Cl ..217/61 ortion of a container wall comprising asingle piece [51] Ill!- Cl. ..G65d 43/24 of heavy gauge wire formed tohave a wall-spanning [58] Field of Search ..217/6l, 60 A; back portion,a fi t leg, 3 Second leg, and a sleeve f 16/86 86 R; 248/302; 220/85 CHresilient non-abrasive material surrounding a major [56] ReferencesCited portion of the back portion. The first leg comprises a UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Young ..2l7/61 generally linear length of wire and asmoothly curved tail of wire at its lower end.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures MD SUPPORT This invention relates to adevice for supporting the lid of a covered container in a partially openposition.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a device of thetype described which is easier to manufacture than previous such devicesand is suitable for use with containers having a variety ofconfigurations of the lid rim.

To achieve these objects the invention contemplates a lid support devicecomprising a back portion and first and second leg portions, all formedfrom a single piece of heavy gauge wire, and a resilient non-abrasivesleeve surrounding at least a major portion of the back portion. Thefirst leg includes a generally linear portion and a curved tail portionat the lower end thereof. The second leg comprises three generallylinear portions joined in a form to approximate a triangle. In preferredembodiments, the sleeve also surrounds at least part of the linearportion of the first leg; the back portion is itself generally linear;and the plane of the triangle defined by the three linear portions ofthe second leg is inclined at an acute angle to the axis of the backportion.

Other objects, features, and advantages will appear from the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment, taken together with the attacheddrawings thereof.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lid supporting device according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the device of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a side view of the device of FIG. 1 in use.

Referring to the drawings, a lid supporting device is made from a singlepiece of heavy gauge wire (e.g., No. l 1 wire). In the preferred formshown in the drawings approximately 11 inches of such wire is required.

The device 10 includes a generally linear back portion 12, a first leg14, and a second leg 16. The first leg 14 includes a generally linearlength of wire 18 and a smoothly curving tail 20 of wire at the lowerend of length 18. In its preferred form, the tail 20 is curved sharplyenough that the extreme end 22 of the wire will be substantiallyadjacent the vertical length 18. Furthermore, the tail 20 bends towardthe second leg 16 so as to provide a convenient container wall-engagingsurface which cooperates with a similar surface of the second leg tograsp the container wall.

The second leg 16 includes generally linear lengths of wire 24, 26, and28. These lengths are arranged in an approximately triangularconfiguration with the plane of that triangle inclined at an acute angleto the axis of back portion 12 (best seen in FIG. 4). With thisconfiguration, the length 26 (the base of the triangle) is closest tothe first leg 14 and thus acts as the wall-engaging portion of secondleg 16. An extension 34) of length 23 is sharply bent around the upperportion of length M to provide for a stronger and more stableconfiguration of second leg 16.

Sleeve 32 is provided which surrounds the wire of back portion 12 aswell as a large portion of the vertical length 18 of wire in the firstleg 14. The sleeve is preferably plastic tubing but may be anynon-abrasive material. For a lid supporting device constructed from an I1 inch length of No. 11 wire, sleeve 32 may be a 2 k inch length ofplastic tubing having a one-eighth inch inner diameter.

. As best seen in FIG. 4, in operation the device is placed over a wall34 of a container with the wall being grasped between tail portion 20 offirst leg 14 and length 26 of leg 16. With the first leg 14 disposed onthe inside of the container, the lid 36 of the container will rest uponthe sleeve 32 no matter what the configuration of the lid in itsperipheral rep'on (i.e., even if there are recesses or protrusionsdesigned to engage with mating structures on the upper edge of thecontainer wall).

The triangular fonn of second leg 16 provides a wide base (i.e., length26 of wire) over which force is applied when the wall 34 is grasped.This construction, therefore, provides a substantial measure ofstability to the device 10 which would be lacking if both legs appliedpressure to the wall 34 over a very limited area (as is the case withthe first leg 14). It will be apparent, however, that the length ofsecond leg portion 26 may be varied in relation to the length ofportions 24 and 28 while retaining this stability advantage.

Other embodiments of the invention will occur to those skilled in theart and are within the following claims.

What is claimed is:

I. A lid supporting device for supporting a container lid in a slightlyopen position and engageable with the upper portion of the containerwall, the device comprising a single piece of wire, said wire formed tohave a linear wall-spanning back portion extending substantiallyperpendicular to said wall upon engagement of said device with saidupper portion, a first leg integral with said back portion comprising agenerally linear length of wire and a tail of wire at the lower endthereof smoothly curved in the plane of said back portion, a second legintegral with said back portion, and a sleeve of resilient non-abrasivematerial surrounding a major portion of said back portion and saidlinear length of said first leg.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said second leg comprises threegenerally linear lengths of said wire in approximately triangular form,the lowest of said three lengths lying in a plane generallyperpendicular to the plane of said back portion.

4* it a l W

1. A lid supporting device for supporting a container lid in a slightlyopen position and engageable with the upper portion of the containerwall, the device comprising a single piece of wire, said wire formed tohave a linear wall-spanning back portion extending substantiallyperpendicular to said wall upon engagement of said device with saidupper portion, a first leg integral with said back portion comprising agenerally linear length of wire and a tail of wire at the lower endthereof smoothly curved in the plane of said back portion, a second legintegral with said back portion, and a sleeve of resilient nonabrasivematerial surrounding a major portion of said back portion and saidlinear length of said first leg.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein saidsecond leg comprises three generally linear lengths of said wire inapproximately triangular form, the lowest of said three lengths lying ina plane generally perpendicular to the plane of said back portion.